Dreaming of the Stars
by WinterThorns
Summary: Peridot finds herself in the glorious new world of college. Here she must struggle with a wealth of new experiences, new social experiences, and even new emotions. Big thanks to KrazyKimmy for helping me out with this probably wouldn't have had the courage with Cover art by Saurgazing on tumblr! Go follow them like now they're amazing
1. Chapter 1

BRRRRRIIIIIING

BRRRRRIIIIING

BRRRRRIIIIING

The noise reverberated throughout the room. Disgruntled by the sudden noise, a heavy hand slammed down onto the alarm clock, silencing it.

A groggy head arose from the bed staring at the bright red letters, which seemed nearly as intense as the actual ringing it produced.

7:25. A sigh as the tired girl brushed her thick, short, blonde hair out of her eyes, starring blurrily at the surrounding room.

She blinked in confusion; something wasn't right. The room seemed barren, empty; covered only in cardboard boxes and dust that suggested the room itself hadn't been cleaned in quite a while. She sighed as it came flooding back to her. Sitting up completely she continued to review the blurry room, and another sigh escaped her lips. She had a feeling she'd be doing that a lot today.

Reaching to her bedside table she patted the wooden structure several times before she found them. Sliding her glasses over her face the finer details of her new dorm room came into focus. Several unpacked boxes and an overall unclean room, probably left over from the last freshman who decided to just barely pass inspection; yup this was home.

A vibrating noise came from the table, this time not the alarm. Picking up the phone, a message notification was displayed over the wallpaper of a green alien face. Over the hollow eyes of the creature read:

Mom:

Have a lovely first day at school sweetie! Miss you already!

Peridot sighed again, already annoying herself with the constant exhaling, "I swear that woman's never heard of a period before," she complained lightly, before responding quickly with a text affirming that she felt the same and that she would have a good first day.

Setting the phone back down and stretching, Peri climbed out of bed. Her first class wasn't until 10:00 so she could spend some time unpacking and preparing for the day that was ahead of her. Her very first day of College at BCU was about to begin. A sense of adventure welled up inside of her as a grin spread across her face, this was going to be her year!

* * *

Peridot sighed as she looked up at the sky once so bright and shining, now covered in clouds. Looked like it was going to rain today. She glanced down at her attire; her usual alien face shirt underneath a green hoodie, her short blonde hair a mess as always.

She sighed in frustration as she tried to brush her bangs to one side to absolutely no avail. She adjusted the straps of her backpack, it wasn't the heaviest thing in the world, but it wasn't light either. She made her way to her first class which was…

"English," she sighed underneath her breath, not her strongest subject but general education required she take it so take it she shall. She slid in her headphones as she began to walk to class, seeing several awkward waves from boys and an occasional hairbrush from a girl, but she kept her eyes low until she came up to the building. Taking out her headphones, she slid into the back corner of the room where she could quietly just…be.

The rest of the class flooded in gradually, a few coming in after the bell had rung which Peri assumed was normal on the first day of college. The teacher rambled on about the syllabus and how a book should be brought to class every day, most of it just breezed through Peri's brain as she knew she could just fake it through most of the class and pass with ease. That was her mindset for most of these classes; go in, pass and leave; go in, pass and leave, at least until she could start taking classes she was interested in.

Eventually the bell rang, so she slung her backpack on and once again put in her headphones, and walked back to her dorm. With her head down and techno music blaring, she got less waves than earlier but that didn't bother her. She never cared for the random attention anyway.

Back at her dorm she began to unpack the rest of her things; her TV; several gaming systems; her personal computer; and her telescope, setting up the device right in front of her window for her regular stargazing. She smiled and gazed into the device. It was still morning, so all she could see were students milling about, chattering amongst each other. She had a few hours before her next class so she decided that maybe she should go and socialize with some of the people she'd be spending the next few years with.

* * *

Headphones set securely in her pocket, Peridot went out into the quad. This seemed to be where most of the people gathered, so she guessed here would be the best place to start making friends.

'Be bold, be bold,' she thought to herself before marching up to the very first person she saw. Not aware the stern look she wore, she extended her hand.

"Hello there!" she exclaimed, possibly a little too loud she belatedly realised.

Peridot felt her face flushing, as several heads turned her way, including the slightly amused face of the girl in front of her.

She was taller than Peri but not by much, she had caramel colored skin and her hair seemed to be dyed a light purple (so many people here had dyed hair she didn't understand it) , and thankfully she she seemed relaxed despite Peri's less than calm introduction.

"Heh heh," the girl snickered slightly, "Uh - nice to meet you," her voice was a little raspier than Peridot had expected.

"The name's Amethyst," the girl added with a slight wink.

Peridot blinked, surprised at the girls easy-going response.

"I-I'm Perid…I'm Peri," she said. Most people already called her that, and she wasn't the biggest fan of her full given name. It made her stick out even more than she already did in social situations.

"Nice to meet you Perid," the girl snorted lightly at her own joke.

"You as well, Amethyst," Peri replied formally, not entirely sure where to proceed from here.

An awkward silence ensued, before Amethyst burst out laughing and fell down on the floor. Peridot blinked, unsure as to what exactly caused that reaction from this boisterous woman.

"Aw man," she said, wiping a fake tear from her eye, "You are too funny,"

"Uhm…" the blonde blinked in confusion, "What exactly did I do?"

"Y-you," Amethyst stood up finally pulling herself together, "You totally left your fly undone." She continued to laugh hysterically, leaning on the slightly shorter girl for support.

Peri glanced down in embarrassment she couldn't believe she'd forgotten so simple, but when she looked down, she saw her jeans completely zipped up. She scrunched her nose in confusion and looked up at the girl who was now brushing herself off with a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Made you look," she whispered before snickering some more.

Peri rubbed her arm uncomfortably.

Amethyst grinned, "So then Perid how come you cut your name short?" she asked curiously.

"Because Peri is a lot easier to say."

Amethyst shrugged, "Makes sense to me." She nodded sagely. "So Peri, what can I do for you?"

"Um… Honestly... I didn't see this interaction progressing this far."

"Good game plan."

"Yeah, not my best idea," Peri sighed, she'd been making quite the habit of that today.

Amethyst grinned, "Well, not your worst. You could've picked much worse people to talk to than good ol' Amethyst here," she said proudly, puffing out her chest.

Peridot smiled a bit, "Yeah, I guess I could've talked to some stuck up stranger."

Amethyst resumed what Peri assumed to be her favorite hobby; laughing. "You've got some wit don't you? And a little spunk, I like that about you."

Peri blushed at the compliment and shrugged, "I suppose I do in fact have a rather fast brain," she stated confidently and once again a little louder than she had intended drawing more than one awkward glance.

Thankfully Amethyst didn't notice, as she was just radiating happiness. "I can already tell we're gonna be good friends!" The purple haired girl exclaimed throwing her arm around the blonde.

Peridot stuttered as the girl led her away, seemingly toward a building. Peridot broke the physical contact, "Look, I appreciate the kindness and everything, but I've-uh- I've got a class to get to."

Amethyst nodded, "Okay, okay," she said, "see you around Perid." The girl laughed and walked back to the quad.

Peridot breathed a sigh of relief.

That was about all the social contact she felt like she could take for the day. She had plenty of time till her next class, but didn't want to look like a liar to who could possibly be her first friend, even if she was a little…outgoing compared to what she was used to, but still seemed nice enough.

* * *

On her way to the building she heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby. Curious she decided to seek it out taking a few turns and eventually finding a small open area with dozens of trees.

Sitting against one of the trees was a woman holding a guitar.

Peridot blinked, entranced by the music she was making, and singing words Peridot didn't quite understand but they sounded lovely.

Shyly Peridot stepped forwards, "Hey, that sounded really good," she said to the girl.

Getting a full view of her now, she noticed that the girl was wearing blue jeans and a black top that showed off her midriff, not that she was staring at her. She had olive skin and blue hair although dark brown roots were semi-visible.

The girl stopped her playing and looked up at Peri. She blinked twice as if she didn't understand the words that were spoken to her. "Mi dispiace, non capisco."

Peridot's face flushed red with embarrassment as she realized that this student probably didn't speak English, hence why she couldn't understand her words. "S-sorry," she stuttered, "I'll just go." She quickly turned around and walked away, hurrying to her next class. The other girl smirked and went back to playing her music.

Sighing Peri thought to herself,

'This is going to be a long, awkward year.'


	2. Interacting with the Local Species

Dreaming of the Stars

Chapter 2:

"And that's how it's done clods," Peridot grinned smugly, leaning back in her seat as the rest of her group checked over the sheet of paper she'd just lain down in front of them. Several murmurs went through the small group of four students; one quiet curse and a few eye rolls. After a minute of checking, the group simply nodded in resignation.

"She's correct," they all assented monotonously.

Peridot rocked back in her seat, hands behind her head grinning."Well of course I am," she replied haughtily. "I'm always right when it comes to this stuff," It was true math was one of her better subjects, and this math class wasn't exactly challenging to her. She'd blown through high school always taking classes above her grade level and excelling in them all, save English, but math had always been her best. She'd been taking calculus classes for a few years now and had long since mastered the basics of the course that this class was instructing. Sure it was still the first month of classes, but she had expected at least semi challenging work by this point. The only real course she wasn't excelling in wasn't a real class but sociality. It had been almost a month in this new place and she had only managed to make one friend. Several acquaintances sure, groupmates for class projects, oh easily, she was in high demand for those, but as far as actual human connections go, just Amethyst. Not that the purple haired girl was bad but she was definitely…interesting was definitely a word that didn't do her justice. Yet she was still the only one who'd stuck around. No invites from other classmates to party or even to study, not that she would accept the party invites and she felt like she studied better on her own either way, it just felt… it felt not right that she hadn't even been invited. Of course! She thought to herself, a minor epiphany I'm in some of the highest level courses at this school; I doubt any of my classmates have anytime for that sort of thing. It made sense that the smarter people in hard classes must be spending as much, if not more time than she did studying, surely no one really even had the time. Accepting that simple answer Peridot unlocked her door and walked into her apartment. Clothes lay strewn all over the floor, not that she had many clothes mind you, it just so happened that the majority of them were laying around not on hangers. She shrugged, it was Friday tomorrow was laundry day anyways so what did it matter. Sitting down at her desk, the blonde cracked her knuckles, the only neat part of her entire existence; all her papers stacked in neat even stacks and placed relevant to her current courseload. English work in a folder the furthest away from her, followed by her chemistry folder, Calculus folder, and most importantly her physics folder closest to her work space; it was a big desk. The lamp shining over as she pulled her work and notes out of her calculus folder setting her homework next to it. As always her professor had assigned a busy workload and not much else, yet still it had to be done and done with excellence. Sliding her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and setting down her calculator, at last Peridot began her work plodding away at the equations and problems she'd been set to finish or memorize.

A loud knock interrupted a slight doze.

"Huh wha-?" Peridot jumped, sitting up quickly blinking and instinctively wiping the drool off of her chin, "Who's there!?" she exclaimed loudly as if it was even a possibility of being someone else. The reply echoed her own inner thoughts.

"Perid, who else would be knocking on your door at 10:00 on a Friday night?" a raspy voiced called, slightly muffled through the door. Peridot sighed at this point, she'd long since giving up on convincing Amethyst to abandon that ridiculous nickname.

"What do you want?" she asked opening the door to see the grinning girl standing in her typical partying ensemble, ripped jeans and an off shoulder tank top. Amethyst rolled her eyes repeating their weekly tradition.

"I want you to come to a party with me," she insisted.

"No," Peridot replied bluntly.

"Oh come on!' Amethyst persisted, "You never do anything! Just for once you could stand to have a little bit of fun, maybe meet some cute girls," Amethyst winked at that. Peridot was pretty open with her sexuality, never really understood the drama behind it all but she never was one for drama. Needless to say Amethyst latched on to it and teased her about it every now and again, not that she had any legs to stand on on the subject.

"I've got homework to do," Peridot lied, it was her usual excuse to get out of these social events. Only this time Amethyst wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Oh really? What kind of homework?" She asked leaning against the door frame.

"Calculus."

Amethyst smirked and barged past the smaller girl into her dorm.

"HEY!" The blonde exclaimed, "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

She hated people in her room; it made her feel very self-conscious. It was her private space where nothing could exist but what she allowed to. Amethyst, as always, tried her best to make Peridot uncomfortable and invade her personal space.

"Oh, just calling you on your crap," she smirked holding hope Peridot's Calculus assignment with a grin. "You're finished," Peridot sighed.

"Can't I just want not to go out?"

Amethyst nodded. "Sure that's totally allowed P."

Peridot let out a sight of exhaustion and exasperation, exhausperation?

"But this time it's mandatory you need to get out more, college isn't just about shutting yourself in and wasting away,"

"I go on runs," Peridot grumbled under her breath, had to stay in shape somehow.

Amethyst still wasn't having it. "Yup with your headphones in and your head down - that a'int socializing sister. Now throw on some actual clothes and come with me."

Peridot sighed, defeated. "Fine," she relented and Amethyst squeed with excitement.

"Finally!"

Peridot shooed Amethyst out of her room and slid into a pair of loose fitting jeans and a green t-shirt with her favorite alien head design on it. She stepped into the hallway hands stuffed in her pockets to an awaiting purple haired annoyance. She checked her watch, it read 10:36.

"Alright A, here's the rules," Peridot began no nonsense "I will go to this party, I will participate in basic social interaction with these people for two hours, and I will not partake in any alcohol whatsoever," Amethyst nodded letting Peridot lay down the law. "I will return at 1:00 A.M. to my dorm, possibly by myself and you will not ask me to accompany you to another event for at least two weeks."

"Unless you totally love it of course," Amethyst teased.

"Oh yes, I'm incredibly sure that will happen," Sarcasm flooding from Peridots mouth, throwing in an eye roll for good measure.

Amethyst simply shrugged, her go to response to many things, "Don't knock it till you try it."

Keeping her eyes firmly trained on the sky and stars for most of the walk, Peridot let Amethyst prattle on about the party itself, ignoring most all of it.

"And so the house is like pretty nicely sized but not too big," Simply nodding along to everything that was said. "But the guy Kevin seems like kind of a douce," She said, which caught Peridots attention.

"Wait, Kevin?" she asked "You mean that narcissist who wears scarves all the time?"

Amethyst nodded. "Wow P, you actually know someone," Amethyst cut herself short looking at the girl.

Peridot frowned, a dejected look coming over her face. "He's in my group in English class," She whispered.

"How come I didn't know this?" Amethyst frowned, seeing the downcast girl in a new light for the first time. It wasn't that she hated social events, she didn't like them, but of course she wanted friends, her expression looked…almost betrayed like she had been wronged, by not being invited to a party by some guy that she went to class with.

Oh poor innocent Perid, Amethyst simply grinned. Now she had an idea, an Amethyst idea.

Peridot felt a hand wrap around her shoulder, flinching slightly at the unexpected contact but settling in; realizing her current state Peridot straightened up and put on her blank stare.

"I mean, whatever, I'm sure he thinks he's 'too cool' to hang out with the class on the weekends," Amethyst nodded but definitely didn't agree. A light melody breezed through the air, soft and sweet, perking both girls up a bit.

"Would it kill someone on this campus to sing a song in English?" Peridot exclaimed exasperated.

Beach City University had a very popular fine arts program which of course attracted a large group of 'cool kids' and almost any time anyone on the quad brought out their guitar to sing it was in some foreign language and typically stunted and butchered, Peridot was sure most of them were grammatically incorrect as well not that she cared to check.

Amethyst chuckled.

"I kinda like 'em sometimes, it's nice to hear the true diversity of languages,"

"Most of them are just being pretentious to sound good," Peridot shot back as the melody faded away to the loud sound of blasting electronica from the house they were now rapidly approaching. Much to the musician's annoyance as her music got continually harder and harder to hear she simply screamed in frustration packing up and storming off.

Amethyst smiled to Peridot placing her hand on the front door, "Welcome to college P," she said simply pushing the door open and stepping in, whooping loudly as if to announce that she'd arrived, receiving a few whoops back from people Peridot assumed knew her. The music was loud but honestly not as loud as she'd thought it would be, decent conversation could still be had here and there, but the volume still held the aura of what she considered outhers thought would be a "good time".

Peridot began to mill about, Amethyst long since gone, doing whatever it was Amethyst did at parties - she assumed drinking. Darting her eyes around the room Peridot attempted to find someone, anyone to talk to. If she was going to get out of here early she at least had to fulfill her promise to Amethyst and interact with, well someone. Too annoying looking: too mean: I don't think they're even conscious: she's way too cute; all her analyses came up empty in one way or another, each person just seemed like they would be impossible to talk to. Sighing in exhausperation Peridot walked into a different room further away from the main source of noise pushing past several dancing couples before arriving in a kitchen looking area. The lights were on which was a bonus, but this was much more crowded than the other room presumably due to its proximity to the alcohol. Peridot continued her journey to a location in which she actually felt comfortable. Walking down the hallway she heard a familiar laugh and saw two other of her classmates chatting it up in the hallway. They're in my group too, she thought, frowning. So I am the only one who just didn't get invited. She didn't care though… not really.

Worming her way through the crowd, she finally found a room off to a side that was mostly empty; it had a few couches, jeez how big was this house, but it was sparsely populated. Peridot walked over to the nearest empty couch and plopped down, smiling shyly at the two pairs of other residents, all of whom were too absorbed in their own conversations to bother returning her smile.

She sat for a few minutes in awkward silence before one couple walked out and another person entered the room. She wasn't someone Peridot had seen on campus before, not that that was surprising. She was tall and thin with a striking nose, a strange thing to be the first to dominate Peridot's attention. She wore a typical college student uniform of yoga pants and a sleeveless top with a star pattern in the middle. She glided gracefully into the room looking just as out of place at this party as the blonde, who was the only uninvolved member of the room. The woman noticed this and smiled sheepishly, catching Peridot's eye she gestured towards the spot next to her. Peridot shrugged and the other woman sat down next to her.

"Quite a party eh?" she asked voice quivering slightly. Peridot couldn't help but sigh internally, she should've expected a certain amount of awkwardness given the girls general posture.

"I hate parties," Peridot injected roughly, her nasally voice not doing her many favors in the kindness department. The other girl winced slightly at the harsh comment

"I-I'm sorry for bothering you," she made a move to get up but Peridot placed a hand on the girls shoulder.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to come across as rude," the woman sat back down smiling.

"Oh it's quite alright," another moment or two of silence passed between the two. Peridot had no idea where to take the conversation from here, she'd never been the driving force in these types of things. Thankfully the other girl seemed to be the type to take the lead.

"My name is Pearl," she began, "I'm a freshman here, studying communications and I plan to be on the dance team," her introduction seemed robotic, almost like it was practiced, her eye contact was unwavering and slightly creepy but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Uh hi, I'm Peri, I'm a freshman here too - majoring in rocket science," she replied back.

Pearl blinked expectantly, as if she was waiting for Peri to say something else. Peridot raised an eyebrow in confusion causing the other girl to tilt her head.

"It's impolite not to also tell me about your extracurricular activities," Pearl said, sounding a little offended. Peridot almost audibly rolled her eyes causing Pearl to frown.

"I'm not in any," she said simply, with a shrug.

Pearl gasped, "You aren't involved in ANY extracurricular activities?!"

Peridot began to notice that this Pearl's voice had a bit of a shrill tone to it.

"But how do you plan on networking with other students to start building future professional relationships, personal friendships or gain experience in your field?!"

She couldn't believe it this person she'd never met and barely exchanged an awkward conversation was lecturing her about her life choices.

Peridot stood up suddenly, "I'm done with this," she said curtly a blank expression on her face hiding her anger.

"Wait!" Pearl called out desperately, "I-I'm sorry," but Peridot was already too far gone to care. Who exactly did she think she was lecturing her about social interaction Pearl wasn't exactly a social butterfly herself.

Peridot checked her watch, 11:45. She couldn't believe it she thought it would've been at least 12:30 by now. There was no way she was going to make it to 1:00, she had to find Amethyst and tell her she was leaving.

She made her way back to the main foyer, where most of the attendees were located. Scanning the crowd quickly doing her best to find Amethyst's signature purple hair. After several minutes of this a loud exclamation was hear from the second floor railing. Everyone stopped and turned to look and saw Kevin, the parties host tumble down the stairs his head slamming against the floor when he hit the bottom. A loud gasp rippled through the crows although Peridot allowed hereself a small smile, drunk idiot probably deserves it, she thought after he stood up, stunned and dazed but no blood running from his head so he was fine, maybe a little concussion.

"What the hell?!" He slurred, to a figure at the top of the stairs, "Why'd you push me, you bitch!" Eyes travelling up the stairs Peridot's heart sank slightly, as at the top of the stairs stood a very triumphant, and slightly buzzed looking Amethyst.

"Cause you're a dick, duh!" she yelled back giggling as she made her way down the stairs. After everyone learned that Kevin was fine the partying continued.

"Get the hell out of my house!" Kevin yelled over the music and dancing partygoers.

"I will, I don't want to be at this lame party with your lameself anyways," Amethyst spat back tossing her hair. Clearing her throat she raised her voice over the music so everyone could hear her, "Yo screw this guy, this party sucks! I hear this isn't even his house." A murmur began to past through some of the crowd, but most didn't seem to care. Typical.

Peridot sighed as Amethyst worked her way effortlessly through the crowd smiling at her friend.

"Did you like your surprise?" she asked.

Peridot raised an eyebrow. "You assaulted the guy that threw this party for me?"

Amethyst nodded, "Of course, if he's gonna be a dick to my friends he's gonna get what's coming to him,"

Peridot genuinly smiled for the first time that night. "You're a good friend Amethyst,"

"Well duh Peridot, you're my pal after all," Peridot stopped.

"Did you actually just say-"she was cut off by Amethyst laughing boisterously as the pair exited the house.

"Did I what, Perid?" she asked with a wide smile. Peridot rolled her eyes back to her usual antics she guessed.

Slamming the door behind them, Amethyst lead the way out of the house. Beginning to walk away the two were suddenly stopped in shock by a splattering sound.

Before them stood a single girl, furious and panting slightly. In her right hand wqs a carton of eggs. Her left hand was currently propelling one of said eggs through the air splattering it against the house. She froze as the pair exited the house.

"Shit," The carton of eggs dropped out of her hands and she bolted away.

Amethyst chuckled, "Hell yeah, I don't know who that was but she's awesome! Too bad we scared her off, think she thinks we're gonna tell?" Peridot was speechless just standing there frozen.

Amethyst leaned over, lookin concerned, "Uh P? You good?" she asked, waving her hand in front of Peridots face.

"She lied to me," Was all that came out, much to Amethysts surprise.

"Uh, what are you talking about P?"

"I saw her on my first day, playing music near one of my classes and when I complimented her she acted like she couldn't speak English!" Peridot exclaimed indignantly stomping her foot on the ground.

"Woah! Woah! Dial it back a bit," Amethyst patted the shorter girl on the back, "I'm sure it's just some misunderstanding or something," Peridot shook her head.

"Next time I see her, I'm giving her a piece of my mind." Fuming the two walked back to the dorms Amethyst taking Peridot up to her room.

"I forgot to ask did you have fun at the party?"

"Of course I didn't. Although I will say that ending was a highlight," Peridot shrugged.

Amethyst nodded, "And the best part is that it's only 12:15!" The purple haired girl exclaimed, "Which means you didn't hold up your end of the bargain so I'll be seeing you again next Friday night," She gave Peridot no time to react or protest, slamming the door behind her.

Peridot sighed, she guessed that this was her fate. Oh well, there could be worse people to have as friends.


	3. Looking Towards the Stars

Chapter 3: Looking Towards the Sky

BRRRING

BRRRIING

BRRRIING

Peridot glanced back as her alarm began to blare obnoxiously. She sighed and stepped away from her window, walking over to the alarm clock and promptly turning it off. Beginning to turn around and walk back to the window she was distracted by another buzzing sound - this time coming from her phone. Letting out an exasperated sigh and once again turning around to her dresser, Peridot picked up her phone, which lit up with the notification. Several texts from Amethyst was the usual for her mornings, but on top, the most recent notification from her mom.

 _Can't believe it's been a whole month now! I know you're doing well up there, keep on and don't forget to make time for friends too! Love you –Mom_

Rolling her eyes, the tired girl clacked away a quick message about how she was doing fine and that she had friends; well, 'friend' was more accurate, but hey, she'd been to a party the previous weekend and she figured that was an acceptable amount of social interaction for a good bit. Scanning over the messages from Amethyst she quickly dismissed them as they were mostly bugging her about social activity over the weekend. It was early even for her, but she didn't mind it so much on Sunday mornings. About a week or two ago Peridot had discovered that at around 5:30 in the morning just outside her dorm window she could watch the night fade away and day take its place, as her window faced away from the rising sun. Glancing through her telescope Peridot watched the dark blues slowly replace themselves with dim oranges before, after a while, the sky's natural blue hue took over. By the time her week starting ritual had ended it was 8:30, and the wisps of night had faded completely from the sky. Sighing wistfully Peridot threw on a pair of jeans and a sleeveless shirt before walking out her front door.

The great disadvantage of living in a dorm cluster was the shared kitchen. The layout of each of the clusters in her particular building were 3 rooms, two singles and a double all leading out into a small common area, containing the bathroom and a kitchen area. Outside of the cluster itself was a general common room for the floor, which held several clusters and a TV. It was quite often busy on weekends, but that was at night. Typically, no one was awake as early as Peridot as she enjoyed the blissful few moments sitting at the kitchen table by herself drinking her coffee.

However, that seemed not to be the case today, as when she opened the door and made her way to the kitchen area she was halfway through her morning coffee before realizing that one of her cluster mates was already sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal.

"Oh uh, hi," Peridot let out, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Morning Peri," the girl responded with a soft smile. Garnet occupied the double room in their cluster, though whoever else was supposed to show up never did so she had the room all to herself. She was a pretty laid back person from what Peridot had experienced; she was a few years ahead of Peridot, dark skinned, hair typically styled in some sort of controlled afro, Peridot really had no idea how to describe the cut but it fit the slightly older woman. Garnet preferred the dorms due to their proximity to the rest of campus. Peridot understood that sentiment and would likely share it in the coming years.

"Morning Garnet," Peridot replied politely but curtly, "You're up early,"

"You seem disappointed by that," Peridot couldn't see past the sunglasses Garnet wore at almost all times but was sure there was some good natured sparkle somewhere behind them. Peridot shrugged as she grabbed her coffee from the pot sitting down across the table from Garnet.

"You're not usually up this early," Garnet shrugged

"Perhaps, this morning just felt too good to waste," Peridot couldn't agree more, but she figured Garnet didn't have the same habit of staring at the sky for an hour and a half every morning. Silence ensued as Peridot continued sipping on her coffee. There wasn't much to do today for her as she'd finished most of her homework the previous day as an excuse to not let Amethyst drag her along to another party. It had worked, but the balance had been a series of drunken Amethyst texts all throughout the night eventually forcing Peridot to silence her phone.

What should I do today? Peridot mused internally running through a list of things that she could spend her day on before a particularly loud clatter interrupted her thoughts as Garnet set her bowl in the sink. Visibly flinching at the noise, Peridot was brought back to the room at current and took another sip trying not to look too agitated.

Garnet simply chuckled lightly. "Sorry to interrupt your thoughts there," she said, making her way to the door, "But if you aren't doing anything else today, which I know you aren't, you should come to the stargazing social tonight in the field next to the English building."

Peridot perked up slightly at that, "Stargazing social?" She asked inquisitively.

"Since we don't have classes tomorrow, the university always sets up a social event for stargazing tonight so students can meet others not involved in their classes," Garnet shrugged. "Seems like your kind of deal."

Peridot nodded. "Will you be going?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Garnet smiled knowingly, "We'll see," Was all the blonde got before her odd dorm mate left the room.

"She is definitely a strange one," Talking to herself was a bad habit she'd developed in the recent years.

Polishing off what was left of the coffee and setting her mug in the dishwasher Peridot decided to go on a walk. The crisp morning air breaking over her face as she exited the building. Amethyst wouldn't be up for another three or four hours so she wouldn't bother her.

Stuffing her hands in her pockets Peridot let her legs take control, not really putting much thought into where she was going. Campus was always so empty on weekends whether it be from students going home for the weekend or simply just still being asleep from a wild Saturday night, these moments were always a brief distraction for Peridot where she felt she could just clear her mind of everything going on around her.

Distractions from school were much appreciated as it consumed the majority of her time during the week. Looking up after several minutes of walking Peridot realized her legs had carried her to the English building, she guessed she might as well scout out the field see if she could find a good spot for later in the night to set up her telescope away from other people. She didn't want to do much socializing at this stargazing club.

Walking across the rather flat expanse that she'd never really taken notice of before, she discovered a nice little area further back. There was a slight dip in the terrain, really the only surface variance in the little land feature, and she figured people would typically avoid it. This would be her spot, it had a wonderful view of the sky; not obstructed by the buildings nearby.

Satisfied with her venture, Peridot began to confidently walk back on to the main area of the campus. Walking past the quad a lilting noise caught her ears. The soft strumming of an acoustic guitar filled her ears. She could hear a voice quietly behind the strumming but she couldn't quite understand what it was saying, though it sounded familiar. She made her way towards the sound, leading her to an alcove she'd only ever seen once before.

This time she approached the little tree cluster more strategically, where once again sat that girl. Hiding mostly behind the wall just around the corner Peridot got her first good look at the girl. Her short blue hair framed her face, although Peridot could see the brown roots beginning to show. She seemed so serene, as the light filtered through the leaves onto her the guitar, seeming to command the light to dance around her slightly. Her face was thin, her bangs coming to a point, even with the tops of her eyes. Her hair was a sort of chaotic controlled, definitely scruffy but almost purposefully so. Her slender arms wrapped around the guitar strumming confidently, almost effortlessly, eyes bright blue in stark contrast to the darker shade of her hair. Slim jeans framed her legs and a loose fitting crop top hung around her midriff striped white and blue. Peridot would've made a comment on the color repetition but her own wardrobe was mostly green and black so she didn't really have any high ground to stand on. The girls eyes drifted closed as her voice carried softly through the trees, stopping just behind the wall, almost as if there were some barrier dampening the sound. The blonde was entranced; eyes focused on the thin lips, as they contracted forming a beautiful melody emanating from the girl's mouth and enveloping Peridot's whole being. The guitar seemed upbeat almost happy sounding, but the voice and the words held a melancholy tone to them - not that she could understand anything the girl sang as it was all in what Peridot guessed was Italian recognizing a word every now and again. Drifting through the song, a final chord was struck although it didn't feel satisfying to Peridot, no sense of resolution coming from the ending of the song. The musician's eyes drifted back open after quite a while being lost in the song.

And that was when the blonde's eyes widened, as she realized what was going on, she froze in fear. Eyes opened a wistful tinge to the vibrant blue, before they came in to focus settling on what was immediately in front of her; a short disheveled looking blonde in glasses who was definitely staring, in what was almost assuredly, a creepy way. Recognition washed over the girls face as she realized that there was someone else standing there albeit half behind a wall, recognition was followed by slight confusion before finally realization.

"What the hell are you staring at?" The voice was harsh, nothing like the beautiful lullaby that had previously entranced the currently babbling Peridot.

"I-I uh, I just - I was walking and I heard y-you and…you speak English?' She finally settled on a slightly indignant tone at the girl's clear proficiency at the language.

An eyebrow raised along with Peridot's pulse.

"What kind of question even is that, of course I speak English," That same harsh tone berated Peridot as the guitar was set aside. Standing up it was clear that this musician was taller than Peridot, not that that was a rare occurrence, but she was at least a head taller possibly more, definitely enough to be slightly intimidating.

She doesn't recognize me? Now she was upset. "The kind of question someone asks after they get very intentionally blown off by someone else," the other girl seemed unimpressed with Peridot's sudden retaliation.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about last time I approached you here, complimented you on your playing and you blew me off by pretending you didn't speak English!" Peridot exclaimed in frustration, she didn't mind being blown off - she was fully aware she could be intrusive and generally difficult to deal with, but being blown off and then promptly forgotten about she could not accept.

The musician snickered slightly at that, "Oh, was that you?" She asked, coyly shrugging, "Guess I just didn't want to have to deal some gremlin drooling over me before class."

Peridot stamped her foot in frustration, this girl was pushing so many buttons and on purpose too! The worst part was that it was actually working, to Peridots increased frustration and the girls continued amusement.

"Well, I'm sorry that you don't feel like you have the time to talk to someone, but definitely have enough time to egg a house just because the music is a little too loud," Peridot played her trump card; earning a flinch from the girl as she realized that Peridot knew what she did, "And don't flatter yourself too much, I most certainly wasn't drooling over you,"

The blue haired girl waved her hand dismissively, "Oh so you're one of those people huh? Love to party it up on the weekends and just have a great time no matter who you disturb in the process?"

Grinding her teeth in rage, Peridot spat back "I was just there with a friend for a little bit, don't you dare assume you know anything about me!"

The musician shrugged, causing the shorter of the two to clench her fist. "Whatever, just stop interrupting me when I'm doing stuff."

The slight regression in tone caught Peridot off-guard, "I wasn't interrupting, I was just listening quietly." Calming down a bit herself Peridot took a deep breath, deciding to reset the momentum of the conversation, "Besides, I thought the egging was kinda cool - the guy that lives there is an asshole."

A suspicious glance met Peridot, as the girl decided standing was no longer worth her time and sat back down underneath the tree.

"Yeah," a short reply, guarded. Peridot knew that tone well. Now was her chance - maybe she could spin this in some sort of positive way

"I, uhm, I'm Peri," she said extending her hand.

The girl glanced up, "Cool," diverting her eyes back to her instrument checking the tuning on her guitar. Peridot blinked her hand hovering in midair not moving earning a slight sigh from the girl,

"Look if I tell you my name and shake your hand will you leave me be?" she asked her tone nothing like the previous sting not warm or friendly more neutral than anything

Peridot shrugged dropping her hand, "I could probably be convinced."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Fine, I'm Lapis." She picked up her guitar and started strumming again starting up another tune. She glanced up at Peridot, the look in her eyes indicating that the leaving part of their agreement should be taking affect.

Peridot met her with a mocking eye roll, mimicking her from before as she whipped around and walked away. "Next time don't be so annoying yeah?" she heard quietly behind her refusing to answer the girls taunt

 _Well at least I got a name,_ Peridot thought to herself, _usually people just ignore me or tell me to buzz off,_ mentally patting herself on the back at her social progress.

Peridot made her way back to the dorm, as Lapis' song once again began to rise up behind her, still quite muffled by the wall and surrounding buildings a sweet and warm tone filling the small alcove where Lapis sat and fading as Peridot walked away.


	4. An Introduction to Space

.｡.:* Chapter 4: An Introduction to Space .｡.:*

Peridot had always been fascinated by space. Ever since she was a child, the vast unending mystery of the expanse that occupied the majority of the universe she dwelled in always called to her; asking her, begging her to solve its mysteries. It's why she was spending several years of her life here. BCU was one of the prime colleges for the study of rocket science and other astronomical type studies; a fact she had never quite understood.

Every time she looked up to the sky a shiver went through her spine at the thought that one day she would be out there; whether in actual body or in spirit of her inventions, she wasn't yet sure. All she did know was that everything space called to her like a siren's song.

This, of course, is why she was currently pulling an alien t-shirt over her head and sliding her belt into her jeans at 8 o'clock at night; to attend a social. Zipping up her green hoodie halfway so that the alien shaped head was still fully visible shook out some cold and sighed. It had been a strange day. Having one of the odder social encounters of her life just this morning with one Lapis. She scowled slightly remembering the event, the girl was odd that was for sure. She was driving Peridot away from any sort of interaction with the blonde, wondering the whole time what she had done wrong. Not that it mattered - she had a friend and was getting better at talking to people so the approval of a single girl didn't matter too much to her.

Whipping around, Peridot began to pack up her telescope, might as well get as good a view as possible as she was finishing zipping up her case she heard a loud banging on her door.

"ALRIGHT NERD, WE'RE GOING TO THE STARGAZING AND I'M NOT GONNA HEAR ANY IF'S AND'S OR BUT'S ABOUT IT!" Amethyst, of course, Peridot's best and only friend. She swung the door open telescope on her back.

"Cool, I've been waiting for you to show up so we can leave," she said nonchantly, adjusting her glasses and stepping over the threshold, locking her door behind her. Amethyst blinked in confusion.

"Wait? You knew AND decided to go," Peridot nodded, gesturing to her telescope.

"I like space," she said simply, almost as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Amethyst chuckled "Of course that's finally what gets you off your ass you dork."

Peridot shrugged "alright then let's get going."

Amethyst nodded, stuffing her hands in her pockets sauntering off leaving Peridot to follow just behind.

"Glad you're finally getting out of your shell," Amethyst commented with a grin.

Peridot just nodded, "Yeah this seemed like a very appropriate thing for me to do given my interests," Her hands slid into the pockets of her hoodie she kept her eyes on Amethysts shoes following the now familiar route.

It was strange, she thought how quickly she had grown accustomed to the layout of the school given how she was generally very directionally challenged, so being able to so easily learn new terrain was an adaptation she was rather surprised with. A lot had changed in her short time here she chose not to dwell too much on it. No time to be too introspective when she was going to attempt to make new friends.

"So do you think people go to this for actual stargazing?" Peridot asked adjusting her telescope nervously.

Amethyst simply chuckled, "Nah most people just go to hang out," an evil grin formed on her face, "or make out with cute girls," she prodded Peridot with her elbow at that statement causing the shorter girl to stumble a bit her face red.

"I've already told you I'm not here to find a girlfriend," adjusting her strap again, "I'm just here to focus on learning; friends weren't even a major part of my initial plan,"

Amethyst giggled, "Maybe so Perid, but I guess I was just too charismatic even for you," earning a dramatic sigh and an eye roll from Peri only seemed to amplify Amethyst's taunting, "don't act like you aren't glad that I'm around."

"If you'd stop calling me Perid maybe I would."

"Not until you tell me what your actual first name is," Amethyst shot back.

Peridot shook her head, "Nope not gonna happen, A."

Amethyst pouted a bit hands clasping each other behind her head. "I still don't get why you hate it so much," she said casually.

"I just…I don't like being associated with it okay it makes me sound…pompous I guess I dunno I just prefer to be called Peri okay."

Amethyst sighed "yeah yeah I get it," and like that the topic was dropped. Amethyst did this from time to time but Peri wouldn't budge on it it was the one thing she had control over in her new life; her new identity.

"Well we're here Peri," Amethyst gestured out to the usually unoccupied field, now jammed pack with students all milling about and talking to each other. There was a raffle desk by the entrance to the event to win some stupid prize.

Peridot groaned as they approached they desk causing a raised eyebrow from Amethyst

"What is it P?"

Peridot massaged her temples slightly as they approached and muttered under her breath "her,".

Amethyst turned to the table confused and shrugged as she approached the attendant.

"Yo, whassup Pearl," she exclaimed good naturedly to the girl sitting behind the raffle desk.

Pearl looked up smiling "Oh, Amethyst it's so nice to see you here," the two exchanged a friendly hug over Pearl's station that almost caused Peridot to gag. "So," Pearl asked "did you finally manage to drag your friend out of her dorm?"

Amethyst nodded triumphantly, "Yup, she was even already coming! I'm a fantastic influence on her."

Pearl chuckled slightly, "Uh sure you are, where is she?"

Pearl's eyes settled on Peridot before flashing with recognition "OH!" She exclaimed excitedly, "It's you!"

Peridot grimaced slightly at the girl's excitement. "Uh yeah hi Pearl," she said shyly.

Amethyst turned to Peridot, "Uou know her?"

Peri nodded "yeah we met at the party,"

Raising an eyebrow Amethyst turned to Pearl and then back to Peri then back to Pearl, "You didn't scare her off, did you?" Amethyst asked resulting in a slightly offended sounding chirp to come out of Pearl,

"Of course not we simply talked about extracurricular activities."

"Which I told her I didn't participate in," Peridot interjected "and she was oh soo thrilled to hear that."

Pearl blushed slightly "eh heh," she coughed "perhaps I was a little too forward with you I apologise,"

Peridot shrugged, "it's whatever, yo A, I'm gonna go set up my telescope back there," she pointed off to a mostly empty section of the field that looked to be prime real estate,

Amethyst nodded "yeah I'll be over there in a bit, gotta catch up with ol Pearl here," Amethyst smiled giving Pearl a noogie that the event planner seemed very displeased with.

Peridot wandered off to the spot talking to herself as she weaved through the crowd "I swear that girl has too much energy, if she had anymore no one would be able to tolerate her at all," she heard a soft chuckle come from somewhere near her spot and blinked in confusion. She sat down and began to set up the telescope when a soft voice slipped into her ears.

"Yeah we could probably hook her up to a light-bulb and have it power the whole school," Peridot responded almost without thinking "yeah but then we'd never get to see the stars she'd be like a sun 24/7," another giggle.

This time Peridot looked up to see who she was actually talking to. There just to her right sat an all too familiar figure.

"Lapis?" Peridot asked. The blue haired girl smirked "Wow. Good to know your memory spans entire hours," her voice dry with a small hint of humor coming mostly from the light smirk she wore.

"What are you doing here?" Peridot asked "Don't you like hate people or something," she finished adjusting her telescope.

Lapis shrugged, the smirk never leaving her face "I could ask you the same thing, aren't nerds like you supposed to be total shut-ins?"

Peridot grit her teeth "I'm here to stargaze,"

"Not to socialise. Shocker," Lapis shot back still wearing that frustrating grin.

Peridot shot her a glare that the girl returned with a nonchalant raise of her eyebrows. Peridot let out an exclamation of agitation and made a move to start packing up her telescope.

Lapis' face softened, slightly "Okay, okay, I'll lighten up a bit," she said holding up her hands.

Peridot simply nodded and set her telescope back down pressing her eye to the eyehole.

"So you really just came here to look at the stars through a telescope?" Lapis asked leaning back on her hands.

"Yes," Peridot responded shortly. "Did you just come here to bother me?"

"Well, someone's got a high opinion of herself," Lapis shot back, "No, I actually came here to stargaze too," she smiled turning her eyes to the sky. Glancing over at the girl she noticed something off, her smile seemed almost strained, though she couldn't tell why.

"Do you, uh, wanna look through my telescope?" Peridot asked, offering the girl the eyehole.

Lapis turned the strained smile melting back into her old confident grin, though it too had something off about it.

"Sure, I've never used one before." Peridot blinked in shock.

"You say you love stargazing but you've never even looked through a telescope before?" The disbelief in her voice palpable.

Lapis just shrugged as she looked through the magnifier. "Yeah I've always found it more ... real to just look at them naturally. They're more mysterious that way."

Peridot looked up squinting slightly as Lapis continued, "Looking too close almost takes away the majesty. Makes them seem... touchable, reachable," she leaned back wistfully "They just don't have the same glamour up close."

Peridot scrunched her face in confusion. "Well of course they're touchable and reachable; that's what space programs are for to research and demystify the mystery of those huge balls of gas out there."

Lapis shook her head, "And something about that just seems wrong."

"Why?" Peridot asked almost incredulously "We have to go and explore space, we have to go out to understand the universe we live in to understand how they work, what they do, how they affect us."

Lapis sighed and shook her head once more. "Have you ever thought that maybe a mystery should stay a mystery?

"No," Peridot's answer was blunt and immediate.

Lapis turned, their eyes meeting green and blue locked in a gaze underneath the stars, "That's what most people say," she responded, holding the eye contact intensely, "But if you ask me there's beauty in the mystery of what's out there and a wonder in what we don't understand."

She smiled, "Maybe it's not your thing, but I think that not understanding them completely makes them all the more real."

The statement seemed counter-intuitive to the blonde, "not understanding makes them more real?"

Lapis nodded, "Yup. If you just think of it as a big ball of gas and fire then there's nothing personal about them, nothing is quite as beautiful as a mystery," and in that moment, Peridot definitely agreed.

"You love space," Peridot began trying to piece together what she could of the girls mindset, "but you don't want to understand it,"

Lapis laughed at that a good hearty laugh. "That's not it at all Peri," she said simply, "I do love space and what it represents and the mystery of what it is. But I still want to understand it just differently than most,"

She smiled and for once it seemed genuine, "I don't want to understand it through facts and equations though I want to understand it emotionally; the unsure feeling that it gives me makes me…" she trailed off her hand ghosting over her necklace, a blue stone embedded into it in the shape of a teardrop.

She blinked coming back to earth, "uh what was I saying?" She asked.

Peridot stuttered, "Uhm, uh, something about understanding space emotionally or whatever. I didn't really understand it."

Lapis nodded, "L'infinità del mistero è che è la vera bellezza," she said.

Peridot looked at her in confusion. "What? I don't speak Italian."

Lapis nodded with a wink and a wry smile, "I know nerd," she smirked standing up and brushing her jeans off.

"Anyways, it hasn't been absolutely miserable talking to you," Peridot huffed.

"Didn't get that impression from this morning," Lapis shrugged. "Well, maybe if you were to drop by my little alcove again while I was practising I wouldn't be as angry," she smirked, "Either way, your friend is coming so I'll leave you be. Come by if you want to talk about space some more," she said simply.

If Peridot hadn't met the girl before she would've thought there was a slight glimmer of hope that she would actually take her up on the offer, "I never really get to talk about it anymore," and with that she was gone weaving her way through the crowd.

Peridot followed her until she fizzled out of her vision like a shooting star so bright and then…gone.


	5. First Days on an Alien Planet

Dreaming of the Stars

Chapter 5: First Days on an Alien Planet

Soft music filled the air surrounding them. It was mid-morning; probably somewhere around 10:00 so. The sun was still rising over the buildings and dew still dusted the grass except for in two specific areas. The sunlight filtered through the tree, an odd carpet of shadows covering the two beneath it, inconsistent but a strangely beautiful pattern. The strumming of the guitar was the only sound, the melodic voice whistling in the wind was lacking, but somehow this was more than enough.

The first body was spread out, taking up most of the room. Her upper torso leaned slightly against the tree, as the rest of her was splayed out in the grass. Her hands held together over her stomach, eyes closed with the sunlight only occasionally filtering over her eyes.

It was rare for Peridot to be up and out of her room this early in the morning, yet she felt it was certainly worth losing a little bit of study time; she'd make up for it later. After all it's not like she did anything else in her free time.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as the floating acoustic melody continued calm and easy listening, putting her mind at rest while also engrossing her in its small variances of volume and intensity that almost went unnoticed unless one had been listening to the same piece for quite a while, which she had.

The second body was sitting mostly up and cross legged hence why it took up less room than the one sprawled out next to it. Lapis was lost in a trance that she was all too familiar with, as her fingers danced slowly and softly over the fretboard of her guitar. Fingers were strumming and picking individually at a melody; sometimes improvised, others memorized. Today was a memorized song, though this time was different than most other times.

Opening her eyes slightly she glanced at her audience; that strange girl she'd really barely interacted with.

It was odd how willingly she'd let her join her in this secret space. Perhaps it was because the other discovered it on her own or perhaps it was some other reason she wasn't sure.

There was something oddly disarming about her presence that Lapis enjoyed as a change of pace, but also made her uncomfortable. Still here they were relaxing on a Sunday morning as it drifted into the afternoon.

They had shared few words between them. Lapis had come, as she did most mornings, to her little alcove hidden away from the outside world after the previous night's stargazing event which she had barely even attended.

She'd expected the blonde to be here at some point, just not as quickly as she had.

Lapis had barely even started by the time those odd green eyes peeked around the corner, silently asking permission, to which Lapis simply smiled - that being the only communication needed. They'd said hello and Peri had lain down in the spot she was still in roughly an hour later as Lapis began to pick out a song familiar to her mind.

Peridot stirred suddenly as the light shifted into her eyes, an involuntary grunt escaping her mouth as she shielded her eyes.

The music stopped as a quiet giggle filled the air, followed almost immediately by a snort.

Peridot blinked and sat up, turning to the girl with the guitar who was red faced and covering her mouth. Peridot blinked once making the obvious connection as a small smirk formed on her face a chuckle rising in her throat.

Lapis glared, though lightheartedly, "Mot a word, okay?" She ordered and Peri just nodded, still smiling all the while.

Lapis' muscles seemed to relax a bit, almost as if she'd been tensed this entire time. Peridot cocked an eyebrow in slight confusion but brushed it off as a quirk of her imagination.

Lapis placed her guitar back in its case, locking it up before standing.

She grabbed her beanie placing it back on her head, before offering Peridot her hand. Taking it Peridot found herself being pulled up effortlessly. A slight gasp escaped her lips and a small blush formed on her face.

Luckily Lapis wasn't looking at her as she packed her guitar up in its case, snapping all of the locks shut.

Holding the sizeable case by her side she turned to Peridot, "Hey I'm gonna go get some coffee at the café," It was a statement, blunt yet somehow warm.

Was it an invite?

Seeing Peridot questioning herself, Lapis rolled her eyes giving another soft chuckle, "You can tag along if you want, I guess."

Peridot cleared her throat and nodded, her voice having practically abandoned her so far this morning.

The two walked silently to the local café that was just off campus.

Peridot had heard Garnet and even Amethyst bring it up before but had never gone herself; Lapis however seemed very familiar with the route, "I come here every morning after practicing." Lapis explained almost as if reading Peri's mind, "The coffee isn't the best, but it's a nice place to sort of relax y'know,"

Peridot simply nodded silently as they approached the clear glass doors. Pushing through them, Peridot's eyes wandered around the scenery.

The café seemed lively, filled to the brim with odd patrons.

A man in the far back sat alone eating what looked like salsa, Peridot questioned where he'd gotten salsa in a café but decided to ignore it.

Next to the windows was a younger girl sketching in her sketchbook something that looked to be some strange plant creature with a giant bulb on it back the other. Peridot shrugged it off guessing it was some sort of pop culture thing she'd never understand.

Another girl appeared to be studying a biology textbook; this was of course much more Peridots speed, and while biology wasn't her subject it was nice to see someone else studied on this campus.

Her eyes refocused on the counter, her and Lapis standing in a short line of only two customers.

The man at the counter held up a cup and sighed looking at it, "One black coffee for Bork?" He exclaimed loudly, which was met by the sniggering of a girl in the back who confidently strode up and took the cup, clearly taking great pleasure in using a ridiculously fake name.

The woman in front of them was simply waiting patiently and walked up to the counter.

The man who Peridot found out was named Riley by his name tag smiled at the customer in front of him, "The usual?" He asked the girl, who simply nodded and held out her hand.

Riley rolled his eyes and reached under the counter pulling out a lemon and handing it to her.

"Just for you, and no charge today."

The girl nodded, smiling, as she walked off with her newly procured lemon.

Lapis turned to Peridot with a raised eyebrow, like she had no idea what was going on with the customers in here and Peridot just shrugged. It wasn't like she'd ever been here before, and she assumed Lapis was the expert. As it came their turn, Riley smiled upon seeing Lapis.

"Hey Lazuli," he said warmly.

"'sup." As always Lapis' reply was curt and to the point.

"I see you're in as good a mood as always," he joked lightly, "What can I get for you?"

Lapis tapped her finger against her chin for a moment, scanning the menu.

"I'll take the Vietnamese blend today," she said pulling out her wallet, as the barista nodded, calling back to one of his employees who nodded and started making the cup.

"It's rare to see you in here with someone else," he commented looking back at Peridot. Lapis glared at him.

"What, don't think I can make friends?"

"Woah now I didn't say…"

Lapis snorted again a sound Peri was starting to really love hearing.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you. Yeah, she's alright, I guess," Lapis shrugged and Riley nodded mumbling something to himself, before Peridot walked up to take her order.

"I'll just take your basic coffee, black please," She stated reaching back to pull out her own wallet.

Nodding Riley called back the order, before taking her payment.

"Try not to let her run you off, okay?" Riley teased with a wink.

Peridot blushed, "Uhm… okay." Not knowing what else to say she simply stepped aside with Lapis, taking a quick side glance at her.

Who exactly was this woman, she wondered. Lapis was a complete mystery to her, she'd been so aggressive in their first meeting, but so welcoming at the social it was… strange to say the least.

"What?" Lapis' voice knocked Peridot out of her trance and she realized she'd been staring. She coughed trying to cover it up. "Eh sorry, just a bit tired is all."

"Ah, so you do speak then?" Lapis quipped dryly.

"Yes, I speak. I'll have you know I've simply been quiet because you seemed very focused on your music and I didn't want to disturb you like…last time," Lapis nodded.

"Yeah that's fair I suppose," She shrugged, "And I apologized for that, didn't i?"

"No, actually you did not," Came Peridot's matter of fact response.

Lapis simply shrugged, "Whoops," was all she said before their names were called, both walking up to take their orders and sit down at a booth in between several of the patrons but far enough away to at least feel alone.

"Black coffee though, really?" Lapis asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Blue hair though, really?" Peridot shot back earning a dry laugh from her new comapanion.

"I wanted to make a statement, y'know,"

"And exactly what statement are you trying to make with that color?"

Lapis grinned, wickedly. "That I look damn good in blue,"

Peridot blinked, what an utterly ridiculous reason to so drastically change ones appearance. She wanted to say as much but had been taught to be more polite especially to new people, a courtesy that Lapis clearly either hadn't been taught or had decided to ignore.

"So why the black coffee huh?"

"Why do you care?" Peridot asked taking a sip of her drink.

"Just curious, isn't that allowed?"

Peridot sighed. "Coffee is for waking up in the morning," She said simply.

"Yeah, but a little sugar never hurt anyone and it adds just a little pep to the step."

"While that may be true I don't particularly care for the taste of sugar."

Lapis raised her eyebrow as if Peridot had just said something utterly scandalous.

"What a brave opinion you have there Peri," She rocked back in her chair, a wry grin on her face. "Okay, your turn now."

Peridot raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean are we playing twenty questions or something?"

Lapis nodded as if this round of the game had been clearly previously agreed upon.

"Uhm…are you Italian?"

"Yeah, my mom's from Italy and so are my dad's parents," her answer was short and quick.

It was odd, Peridot thought, that Lapis was being so open with her, she'd gotten the sense that the girl was generally very closed up and not very trusting, maybe this was some kind of sign.

"Okay my turn," Lapis grinned mischievously. "what's Peri short for?"

Peridot blinked her face scrunching up into an expression of slight distaste. "Why do you think its short for something?"

"Because you write it with an 'i' at the end and stutter a bit when you introduce yourself to others."

It was true having grown up she'd always gone by her full name, which she detested always made her feel like everyone thought she was too stuck up for them. "Where did you see my handwriting and how do you know how I introduce myself?"

Lapis smirked, "Your name was on your telescope last night and I might have heard you talk to some people before I left," Her wry grin widened to an almost infuriating length.

Peri humphed, "Well fine, I hate my name, though just so you know, it's Peridot," She muttered, just loud enough for Lapis to hear, And if you ask me it sounds much too pretentious to be anyone's actual name."

Lapis just nodded her grin hardly changing, "I like it, Peridot," Lapis tested the name, it was strange sounding on her tongue, "although I guess I'll just stick to Peri for now."

Peridot glared at her, "You'd better, anyways it's my turn now."

Lapis tutted at her. "Well actually, you asked me two questions before answering mine and as you can see-" she smirked, wiping some remnants of coffee off of her upper lip and tossing her cup in the nearby trashcan, "-I have already finished my drink."

Peridot stuttered, looking down at her almost full cup before looking back at Lapis who was already standing, guitar in hand.

"It was fun hanging out with you today, see you later, Peridot." Lapis nodded in a form of her own self confirmation. "Yeah. Actually, I like that one," she waved cheekily, before heading out the door; leaving Peridot sitting at her booth, cup three-quarters full and mind swimming with confusion.

 _What the hell just happened?_


	6. Research into Like Minded Individuals

Chapter 6: Scientific Research into Like Minded Individuals

The lines on the paper were starting to get blurry. A quick look out the window showed the beautiful array of dawn as the sun lowered below the horizon, if she squinted hard enough Peridot was sure she could see some stars on the horizon and given enough time and clarity identify them. Unfortunately her eyes were strained over this english paper she was typing up.

Swiping off her glasses Peri tried rubbing the glare out of her eyes to refocus but frustratingly enough that wasn't the only distraction. A clatter and uproarious laughing in one of her suitemates rooms caught her again. Peri grunted in frustration and threw a quick look at her phone, no messages, back to the distraction. She had to do something about this it was getting impossible to get anything done and English already was not her best subject. Throwing on a cap to cover her current mess of hair the blonde stormed out of her room expecting to turn to Aqua's dorm she was always the one partying and being annoying. So it was much to her surprise when the noise she hear was emanating from Garnet's room. Three voices, strange considering Garnet never seemed to have anyone over. Peridot knocked on the door, a sudden hush came over the room followed by some short footsteps before Garnet's head peeked out from the door,

"Oh hello Peri," her voice was always so disarmingly british, she'd have to ask about that at some point

"Yeah hey you and your uh friends," she glanced in trying to get a look at who Garnet hung out with "are getting a bit loud and i'm trying to write a paper." she finished. Garnet nodded,

"Of course i'm so sorry I…"

"Yo P! Stop being such a tight ass and come on inside!" a familiarly gruff voice echoed from inside of Garnet's room. Peridot blinked in confusion,

"Amethyst?" Garnet opened the door allowing Peridot to walk in to one of the strangest sights she had ever seen. On the floor of Garnet's room surrounded by pizza, two liters, and several board games was Amethyst, a betrayal Peridot would not soon forget, and her arch-nemesis Pearl...if by arch-nemesis she meant...well she wasn't sure what she meant.

"A? Pearl?" Peridot stuttered in confusion "I didn't know either of you knew Garnet,"

"Haha how do you think i always get into the cluster yo?" Amethyst hopped up throwing her arm around Peridot, "mah girl G always lets me in so that i can bug you," Peridot shot a death stare at Garnet who simply smirked and shrugged. Peridot massaged the bridge of her nose,

"And what about Pearl?" she asked gesturing to the other girl sitting amidst several pizza boxes

"What?" she exclaimed "I'm a very sociable person, it's literally what I do here," Peridot snickered a bit, Pearl always seemed so easy to rile up.

Amethyst cocked an eyebrow, "yeah c'mon P other P here is in like almost every club on campus," a devious smile spread across her lips "and if i remember correctly all of your friends are in this room," Peridot's face flushed with indignation

"That's not true strictly speaking," she retorted defensively "I have other friends," as if to prove the matter Peridot pulled out her phone to check it again only to be greeted again by her lock screen and no notifications.

 _What the hell Lazuli._

"Oh?" Pearl's voice came across slightly condescending "and who else do you interact with Peri?" Peridot was sure she didn't mean to be rude the pale girl didn't seem to have a genuinely rude bone in her body,

"Well three friends is better than two," Peridot responded raising a smug eyebrow at Pearl

"But you said you had another friend?" Pearl asked in confusion doing a quick count of the room "there's three of us here...oh," Pearl's mout set into a serious line "very funny Peri," the other three chuckled,

"Oh come on P it is kinda funny," Amethyst intervened before blinking. "Oh man this is gonna get confusing with two P's i'm gonna have to come up with a different nickname system," Garnet shook her head,

"Amethyst we both know you aren't going to put in that kind of effort,"

"You right G!" she exclaimed laughing hysterically goading a chuckle out of Peridot and a cute giggle out of Pearl.

"So if P doesn't want to tell us about her mysterious friend," Amethyst said with a knowing glare "I think we could all get behind convincing her to join a club!" Pearl shot up at the mention of clubs.

"Oh there are so many fantastic clubs on campus!" Peridot's eyes spaced out as Pearl began to list off club after club in order of creation. "...Astronomy, and,"

"Hold up," Peridot held out a hand quickly coming back to Earth "Astronomy club?"

Pearl nodded, "Yes it's somewhat of a newer club and doesn't have a ton of members yet, i think Jade is the club representative to talk to." Pearl's grin was almost physically touching her ears, "so are you going to join?" she asked barely containing the clear emotions showing on her face as her eyes shone with excitement.

"I guess if i have to join one," Peridot shrugged "that'd probably be it," Amethyst nodding holding out a clenched fist which Peri absentmindedly bumped.

"Atta girl P, finally getting yourelf out there, im proud of you girl!" Amethyst and Garnet had much better control over their emotions but Peridot felt like there was still some genuine happiness in both of them, Garnet simply holding a thumbs up her usual half smile dressing her face.

Giving a curt wave Peridot walked out the door, guessing she'd be able to find Lemon Jade somewhere in the commons building.

Peridot walked into the crowded commons building the next morning with her usual hoodie up and hands stuffed in her pockets. There was a room that Pearl had mentioned club reps hung out in to find new members for the clubs, usually only smaller or new clubs were in the room so Peri figured it'd be the best place to check considering the astronomy club was… well both.

She snuck her hand out of her pocket checking her phone and was once again treated to just her lock screen. She stuffed the device back into her pocket grunting in light frustration, _Whatever Lazuli_ she'd almost resigned herself to the fact that Lapis was not going to be messaging her back, at least not today. She hated herself for how much this had been bugging her the past several days it seemed like Lapis was all that was on her mind and she really didn't know why. Sure she had that bad girl aura and magnetism but Peridot had never been this drawn to someone so quickly. _Probably just weird college hormones_ that explanation worked for her. Still didn't explain why she kept seeing flashes of blue hair everywhere she went. Hallucinating a girl everywhere she went was definitely not something Peridot liked doing.

Another blue flash captured her attention right next to her which she immediately shook away "stop it Peri," she slapped herself in the head before walking into the room.

"Uhm, is there a Lemon Jade in here?" she asked sheepishly scanning the room. It was fairly empty which she guessed made sense it was a good bit into the semester so she doubted many clubs were still actively looking for members here. But luckily, or maybe unluckily for her, the one person in the room perked up a smile that would give Pearls a run for her money lighting up her face.

She had blonder hair and a slightly plump figure a pair of glasses over a dusting of lightly colored freckles across the bridge of her nose which was tipped ever so slightly red.

"OH!" she exclaimed a higher pitched voice than Peridot was expecting and an unfortunate excess of energy oozing out of her. She stood up quickly knocking over the chair she was sitting in and ran around the big desk that occupied most of the room just catching herself mid trip over one of the legs of a chair. Stumbling up near breakfast Peridot got a better look at her a slight blush dusting her face given how close the girl was.

"Are you looking for me? Is it because you want to join the astronomy club? Oh please tell me thats it! This is so exciting oh this is so exciting!" Peridot took a slight step back the girls presence was rather overwhelming. "My names Lemon Jade most people just call me Jade cause some other girl always eats Lemons so they call her Lemon even though that's not even her name. Not that i mind oh but wait you already knew my name you're here to join the club right?" she fished in her backpack not waiting for Peridot to give a response as she triumphantly pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper and shoving it in Peridots face panting slightly.

Finally taking a second to catch her breath Peridot smiled slightly awkwardly but took the paper nonetheless filling it out.

"So whats your name?" Jade asked inquisitively peaking over Peridot's shoulder as she filled the form out

"It's Peri," she responded shortly not really sure what else to say

"Thats a nice name,"

"Uh thanks yours is too," Jade was beaming as Peridot handed her the form. Scanning it thoroughly probably trying to get some insight into the new member of her club but honestly Peridot couldn't even guess what occupied that girls mind.

"Great well see you tonight for the meeting Peri. It's at 7pm in the science building room 208," Peridot just nodded waving goodbye. _That's so soon guess i'll get a good taste of what to expect quickly so that's good I guess._ Peri could still hear Jade bubbling in the room as she left it.

"Two members in one day this is just the best!"

Well at least she could take solace in knowing she wouldn't be the only newbie at the meeting tonight.

The sun set over the far buildings as Peridot approached with the moon. The door to the science building swung open easily enough she wasn't sure why she'd expected it to be locked or heavier somehow but it was as normal as it usually was, which felt strange for so late in the night. But obviously she knew why it why she was here after all. The building was dimly lit, enough to be able to navigate but not as much as usual, she assumed to cut costs. Climbing the rather large flight of stairs Peridot found her way to the lecture room, the only one flooding with light and faint conversation from the slightly cracked open door. Checking her phone the time read 6:59, and the only new message was Amethyst sending some ridiculous meme she was sure would somehow be funny to the purple haired girl but doubted she'd get it.

Closing the door behind her Peridot scanned the room. It was a standard lecture room Peridot guessed she'd sit a few rows back, scanning to see the kind of crowd the astronomy club drew. There was a boy with a strange light pink pompadour, at least she guessed, talking with a pair of dark skinned twins with matching short red haircuts, it must be a nightmare trying to tell them apart it almost looked like they shared a body. A lazier looking woman yawned her hair a colorful bob though her every move seemed lethargic. A short girl sat near the front her long bangs covering her eyes conversing with the lethargic one.

Peridot froze when her eyes scanned the front of the room. Jade was standing there, which she had expected honestly but that wasn't what froze her up. It's who Jade was talking to, the two seemed to be laughing exchanging some kind of pleasant basic conversation, but Peridot couldn't mistake that short blue hair for anything. She looked so beautiful in such a simple situation.

"Oh!" Jade exclaimed making Peridot cringe slightly as Lapis turned to see who Jade was addressing, "Peri you're here!" she waved excitedly the rest of the club turning to her all smiling. The girl in the front who was talking with the lethargic one didn't turn at first until she was nudged. Her hands moved quickly as she was looking to her friend who simply mouthed a few words slowly. The girl nodded, turned fully and waved ecstatically at Peridot who smiled awkwardly and waved back. It was hard to take her eyes off of Lapis after all the girl had been the sole focus of her thoughts for a few days. Lapis shied away from Peridot's eye contact excusing herself to her seat occasionally throwing a glance back but turning away immediately.

Peridot settled in to a seat next to the pompadour sprouting dude who introduced himself as Lars and his friends as the Rutile twins. Peri nodded exchanging basic pleasantries but her eyes moved immediately back to Lapis as the meeting began.

 _Why has she been ignoring me? It doesn't make any sense. She goes out of her way to talk to me at the Social and then invites me to hang out with her. She hasn't been in her alcove the past few days and she hasn't returned any of my texts. Did i say something to annoy her? Did i drive her away? Was I too obvious about how i feel. Oh god is she even gay?_ Her stare was so intensely focused on Lapis that she didn't hear a word from Jade. Lapis tried her best to stay focused but her eyes would eventually drift to Peridot and when contact was made she immediately turned away to focus again.

It didn't make much sense to her, suddenly she felt a hand on he shoulder. Snapping back to reality Peri turned to Lars who wore a look of slight concern.

"Hey you good?" he asked "you've been a bit of a space cadet and you're sweating," Peridot wiped her brow,

"Heh sorry space cadeting is kinda my thing, I am in the astronomy club after all," she quipped lamely. It seemed to work as her three seat mates laughed

"Haha good one," Lars replied turning back to Jade and gesturing with his head for Peri to do the same. She nodded turning her focus entirely on Jade. The rest of the meeting flew by and Peridot found that..she loved it. Having an outlet to talk about one of her great passions was exhilarating, she even found herself contributing to several topics, making fast friends with Lars and the twins.

As the meeting came to a close Peridot found herself in a bit of a debate with Lars, that she hadn't expected,

"Im telling you it's just not fair!" he exclaimed

"Does it really matter if it's fair its just how it is,"

"What right do they have to do it to him though," Peridot chuckled feigning an exaggerated facepalm,

"First of all Pluto is a rock in space i don't think it has a gender,"

"You don't know that," he shot back. Holding up her hands in defeat Peridot continued,

"Fair, but still they have every right the previous definition of a planet changed and Pluto didn't make the cut it's just too small to really work,"

"It's still a distinguishable and large enough rock to count as a planet i say!"

"Yeah but Eris is like a quarter bigger than it,"

"Who cares about Eris?"

"Clearly the astrological community cares enough to formally define what makes a planet because of it," Lars frowned slightly upset but it looked like he was relenting for now.

"Fine fine you win this one but i'll get you next time!" he vowed thrusting his fist into the air,

"Go for it big guy we'll see," she laughed smiling back. Lars bid her farewell and walked off with the twins the group giggling the whole way.

She felt good about the meeting but there was still one thing she had to do. Luckily Jade had given her an unintentional assis by holding Lapis up a bit after the meeting preventing her from escaping so easily. Cutting her off just as she was leaving Peridot grabbed her shoulder,

"Hey Lazuli can we talk for a minute?" Lapis froze at the touch, turning slowly and sighing,

"Hey Peri," she said lamely causing the shorter of the two to give her a slight glare,

"Hey?" she asked incredulously, "It's been three days. Three days! And you haven't responded to a single one of my texts, what the hell!"

"I-i'm sorry," Lapis shrunk a bit at the outburst eyes floating to the ground, "i've just been so busy it must have slipped my mind,"

"For three days? So bust you couldn't send a basic text?" Peridot was suspicious, obviously there was plenty of time, she was known for being anti-social and absorbed in school work and she still had made some time, "and not too busy to come to a club meeting?" Lapis hid behind her bangs, a futile effort given they were barely long enough. When she spoke again her voice sounded fragile like she'd been crushed by an asteroid,

"I-i uh i've just...im not so good with uh English and it's been really e-eating up my time lately im sorry," she looked up almost hopefully. It was clearly a lie she'd never seen Lapis stutter so much or at all for that matter it was strange watching her without her usual composure, "I've got a test in uh Professor Roses' 9:00 AM class on Tuesday," Peridot blinked. _She_ was in Professor Roses' 9am class and they had their midterm test last Thursday.

"Don't lie to me," it was Peridot's turn to sound broken, "please Lapis i've been killing myself these past few days trying to figure out why you've been ignoring me." Tears were starting to well up in her eyes but she stuffed them down "look if you don't want to hang out with me anymore that's fine but at least tell me!" Lapis' face looked shocked and hurt,

"Peri that isn't it at all.." she said more words on her lips but they clearly died as once again Lapis hid behind some sort of barrier. The girl seemed so defensive about it, "look i just...i don't know im...scared? I guess i do like hanging out with you Peri the other day in the alcove and at the cafe was fun but...I just don't know how ready i am," she took a shaky breath "and you probably don't want to hang out with me anyways, not if you knew who i was." her voice turned cold at that last bit some long ignored anger flaring out like the sun in her eye but dying down just as quickly.

"You seem like a good person to me," a bitter laugh rang through the halls,

"Yeah you won't when you learn about me, ask your purple friend...she knows," and with that Lapis was gone running down the stairs and out the door before Peridot could react. And she was left there, as if orbiting some cold star, confused and alone.


End file.
